Three Brothers

I don’t know what’s more painful, to watch the moron of Klus, who in everything he does tries to pretend he has some talent, or Jan Svěrák, who in his latest films has tried to pretend that he hasn’t got any talent. (12/24/2015)

In the best possible legacy of Jára Cimrman so charmingly "bad" (whether intentionally or not) with everything mixed up in one basket in a way that it's really good, stylish, nice and funny. Yes, the introduction in the castle and the whole "Sleeping Beauty" part was hard for me to watch (even though it has its bright moments), but the "over the top"" version of the fairy tale about Little Red Riding Hood and the "Frosty-style" fairy tale about the twelve months really got me. I liked it so much that I almost start singing with them out of joy. PS: And with each subsequent watching, I like it more and more. For many years I have not had any movie that would be the one for the annual Christmas screening. (12/24/2015)

I'm more of an admirer of Zdeněk Svěrák's work than Jan Svěrák's, but this is probably the first time I'm dismissing his script. I am extremely bothered by the casting, where even in every one-shot role we have to have some of the popular actors. Some of the actresses like Čvančarová and Míčová are killing me because they don't even try to act in a way other than in their adult projects. Lábus seems to have long forgotten which sex he is and I could go on and on… The way the Red Riding Hood is done here leaves me at ease in the sense that the version with Zdena Kavková from 1920 remains completely untouched by this. Czech films have plenty of these princesses or girls and thus there is no reason to combine the classic pattern about the bewitched beauty with a child Little Red Riding Hood. However, the interaction with the audience up to about eight years of age works, and that seems to be enough to justify the existence of such a form. (08/29/2014)

Before I watched Three Brothers, I forbade myself to criticize two strong allergens - Mr. Dyk and Mr. Klus. In fact, a very similar resistance was caused in 1968 by the casting of Václav Neckář in The Incredibly Sad Princess ... And today, that fairytale is a classic, isn't it? But about Three Brothers - while I could find fault with it (for example, the wolf could have sung more and growled less, since he already had the voice of František Segrado), almost all of them immediately erase the feeling I got from the film. My smile was replaced by laughter from beginning to end, the amazing direction and rich set design, together with Uhlíř's superbly orchestrated music, ensured magnificence, while the cast was so unprecedented that I suddenly remembered Zdeněk Podskalský's musical comedies, in which everyone appeared, often for just a few seconds. What about Tomáš Klus and Vojtěch Dyk? You'd be surprised, but they're excellent. Klus is extremely likable as a romantic hero, Dyk has a decent comic talent - as does his third brother Zdeněk Piškula. Yes, the best part came at the beginning (the retelling of the story of Sleeping Beauty) and the third fairytale has the weakest texts of all and the ending is a bit rushed, but I still won't give it a lower score. The fifth star is a bit of a knock on the low ratings here, which are often based on rather strange arguments (for example, that there is no evil in Three Brothers). (12/24/2014)

I would expect to find the command "On the forehead, the chest, and the belly" in a slightly different genre of movie, but so be it. Nevertheless watching Jan Svěrák murder his own reputation and deny his own talent, was simply excruciating. (01/02/2021)

I hesitated for a long time before I finally decided to watch this joint work by the Svěráks. Probably because I never liked Czech musical movies very much. To my amazement, however, I quite liked the versed singing here. The idea of combining three classic fairy tales with one new one was not bad at all. With a few exceptions, I liked the cast a lot. Vojta Dyk amused me the most. For example, when he was looking for the girl he had a crush on, I had to laugh out loud. Then I was very taken by Oldřich Kaiser as the father of three brothers. During his performances, I wondered when that wonderful change happened, this crazy comedian becoming such a great character actor. (75%) (01/04/2023)